Review: Rainbow Six Siege

I have been intently following the development of Rainbow Six Siege since its announcement. To make this personal for a bit, it seemed like it could be my kind of game. Maybe it could be the kind of multiplayer experience I hoped Ghost Recon would someday become.

As we all know very few things live up to personal hype, and when I initially started up the game I was immediately concerned. I could not join a game and spent a lot of time endlessly searching for other players. But I persisted and, eventually, found the game I had been waiting for all this time. Many titles these days make big promises but fail to live up to them. Rainbow Six Siege is not one of those, as it successfully delivers on some modest but impressive innovations.

Riot shields are very important. Generally the only reason I survive more the three seconds.

The shooting mechanics of Siege are realistic but unforgiving. Chances are if you get shot you will know about it because you died. This will all feel very familiar to Rainbow Six fans, but anyone coming over from another FPS to see what all the fuss is about, might need some time to adjust. The environments are as destructible as you’d like, not just cinematic, once-off moments, but a truly detailed facet of the gameplay that really changes the way you think about cover. Just because you’re in a room with one entrance watching the door doesn’t mean you are safe. In other shooters covering all your points of ingress is usually more than adequate. In Siege, not so much.

For example, I was playing a match where I was alone in a completely empty room with a tiny enclosed area in the corner (like an unfinished wardrobe or bathroom) and a single doorway on the other side. There were no windows, no weaknesses in the roof or floor, just a single door in and out. I barricaded that door and watched it like a hawk. After a while I became distracted by the ruckus in the next room. As I blew a hole in the wall to join the fight I was shot from inside my enclosed room by an enemy attacker who had somehow, I still don’t know how, managed to find themselves in the tiny alcove. The door was untouched, so my best guess is they made their own from the outside, or they were Santa and I missed a fireplace. This kind of crazy experience is why I was so excited for Rainbow Six Siege, and barring some initial minor connection issues, I still very much am.

Smashy, smashy!

The lack of a proper single player campaign is a negative. There is a degree of offline play as both Situations and Terrorist Hunt can be played solo. But as great as a decent story mode for this game would be, the focus here is tactical, intense multiplayer. To drain resources from that in order to cram in a single player story might be a disservice to the game. If the lack of a substantial single player mode means this game isn’t for you, then it simply isn’t for you.

Rainbow Six Siege is a solid dynamic multiplayer experience. Where other shooters can get very repetitive very quickly, Siege has levels of depth you will certainly miss if you only play it once. With so many possibilities in every match, writing this game off as just another military shoot-the-thing title would hardly be fair. Overall it is an enjoyable and addictive game that plays to its strengths. It is certainly the kind of game that caters for a specific type of player, and if you feel like that you might be that type of player, then Rainbow Six Siege will not disappoint.

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RAID 2018 is a gaming event, by gamers, for gamers. Offering BYOC LAN tournaments, video game concerts, talks from industry professionals and much more, we're banking on this being the best

Event Details

RAID 2018 is a gaming event, by gamers, for gamers. Offering BYOC LAN tournaments, video game concerts, talks from industry professionals and much more, we’re banking on this being the best gaming event in Ireland during 2018!